Press Release for Wednesday, December 21, 2016

UNF School of Computing Awards Code-A-Thon Winners

The School of Computing at the University of
North Florida along with Clearsense, a health care data analytics consulting
firm, recently sponsored its second annual Code-A-Thon data mining and machine
learning contest.

This year, UNF graduate students analyzed a
data set concerning diabetes patient records at 130 hospitals across the
country between the years of 1999 through 2008. Students were challenged to
examine the data set and develop code that analyzes patterns and connections.

“The Code-A-Thon contest provides students an
invaluable opportunity to apply what they learned in the classroom to a
real-world problem,” explained Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan,
associate professor in the School of Computing. “By solving the open-ended
research questions provided by experts and practitioners in the field, students
not only demonstrated their computing skills but also their ability in critical
thinking and conducting scientific research, which are the key outcomes that we
pursue in higher education.”

The first-place winner was Team SwoopFlex, which
was comprised of Richard Lentz and Jacob Koza. They collected a grand prize of
$1,000. The second place winner, Larry Snedden, was awarded $500, while the third
place was awarded to Team Data, which included Jeremiah Doody and Avinash
Namilla. Team Data received a $250 prize.

"The Code-A-Thon really opened my eyes to
the massive amount of unleveraged medical data,” said first-place winner
Richard Lentz. “With this knowledge I am more driven than ever to study medical
data, with the hope of improving health care for everyone."

UNF, a nationally ranked university located on an environmentally beautiful campus, offers
students who are dedicated to enriching the lives of others the opportunity to
build their own futures through a well-rounded education.